The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced its intention to launch the Green Economy Financing Facility-Lebanon (GEFF Lebanon) program, which aims to invest $200m in green projects in Lebanon. The facility is in line with EBRD’s Green Economy Transition initiative, which helps countries build low carbon-emitting economies through green investments, including in renewable energy and waste minimization projects. The GEFF Lebanon program aims to build on the related pilot project that the bank launched in November 2018.
The EBRD pointed out that the GEFF Lebanon would provide financing in the form of senior unsecured loans to participating financial institutions, which, in turn, would extend the funds to private sector borrowers that invest in green technologies & services. The GEFF Lebanon program consists of two phases. The first phase, which the EBRD intends to launch in late 2019 or early 2020, would provide private sector borrowers with up to $100m in funding through two participating financial institutions. The second phase, which the EBRD expects to launch in the second half of 2020, would allocate another $100m in funds through two or three participating financial institutions to invest in more innovative and high performance green technologies. In parallel, the EBRD said that it intends to contract a consulting firm or firms that would support the GEFF Lebanon program, from the preparation stage to the implementation of the program.
Economic Research & Analysis Department
Byblos Bank Group